Food Food Everywhere, But Not a Bite to Eat

By

Ken Shepherd

July 19, 2006 - 1:28pm

Washington Post food writer Candy Sagon gave a sour assessment of her grocery store quandaries in her July 19 article “Is There Anything Left That We Can Eat?”

Sagon’s latest story was somewhat tongue-in-cheek about confusing and conflicting advice in the media on what is safe or healthy to eat both in fast food and in the grocery store. However, the Post writer pointed to a food industry critic who says Americans are paying too little to stock the pantry.

“Spend more, eat less. Americans are as addicted to cheap food as we are to cheap oil,” [1]Michael Pollan griped in a June 12 article in Time magazine. “We spend only 9.7% of our income on food, a smaller share than any other nation,” the author added in disgust.

After noting the influence Pollan and fellow author and industry critic Eric Schlosser has had in thinking about the food industry, Sagon complained that “even organic is becoming big business, including organic junk food and organic factory farms.”

Sagon excluded any defenders of the food industry from her story to challenge the dire picture Schlosser and Pollan paint.

The Business & Media Institute has documented instances showing how the media serve as [2]deputies to the food police, including a recent [3]Sagon article biased in favor of the liberal Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and a recent CNN feature with former CSPI adviser [4]Marion Nestle preaching on what to buy and not buy in the supermarket.

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